This image is a series of cells undergoing cell division, a process where duplicated genetic material needs to be distributed to two daughter cells.

A similar image was selected for the cover of the journal Current Biology in March 2016.

Heidi Hehnly, PhD, assistant professor of cell and developmental biology at Upstate, studies why sometimes these cells‘ mitotic machinery is asymmetric.

This question has important implications toward understanding stem cell homeostasis and the formation of tumors.

This article appears on the back cover of the fall 2017 issue of Upstate Health magazine.